Kickstart This! Our 5 Favorite Food-Related Projects To Fund Now

Hard cider, vegan cooking, British peanut butter

We’ve always been fans of Kickstarter here at Food Republic. The website is the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects, allowing users (dreamers?) to outline ambitious projects, along with a requested total donation amount from visitors, who are often allowed to buy in for as little as $1. Bigger contributors are rewarded with perks from users, such as exclusive free samples of products and invitations to private gatherings. Ideas are only funded if the required funding amount is reached by a set time, and users get their money back if the goal is not attained. Here are five of our favorite food/drink-related projects to fund. Now!

Kickstart This! Our 5 Favorite Food-Related Projects To Fund Now

Jacob McKean walked away from his job at Stone Brewing Co. in early 2012 to launch a new brewery – San Diego’s Modern Times Beer. Having found a “killer location” in Point Loma, 10 minutes from the beach, he has already hired a team of inventive and experienced brewers. He is trying to raise $40,000 (and is less than $4,000 from his goal!) in order to “pimp the tasting room,” buy used wine and spirits barrels, and lab equipment. There are a number of rewards for increasing contributions, with all gifts of $10 or more including an invitation to a Kickstarter-only party in the tasting room.

Created by award-winning filmmaker Matt Danciger, “You Are What You Eat” is a web and TV series aimed to teach kids all about food. The show’s guiding principle is that whole foods are the best starting place for nutrition, with each episode exploring the origins of food, complete with characters, skits and songs. The creators have already written and produced a half dozen skits and songs, and are seeking $20,000 – they have raised roughly half that amount – to pay for legal and accounting and hire the grant writers needed to secure production financing.

Who doesn’t love peanut butter? That’s what U.K. entrepreneur Marcus O’Donovan is asking, looking to make the creamy spread from “100% peanuts with 100% British attitude.” The company’s page notes that while sales of peanut butter in the U.K. have tripled since the recession, the two leading brands are full of sugar, salt and palm oil. Nutshot pledges to use the best quality peanuts without the need for additives and is looking to raise £5,000 (appoximately $7,600 U.S.) – they have less than £1,000 (about $1,500) to go – for help launching their already finished products in the U.K.

Looking to reopen for the first time since a 2003 fire destroyed much of their home farm, Breezy Hill Orchard is seeking funds to rebuild its historic cider house in Staatsburg, New York. Farmer Elizabeth Ryan hopes to expand production of artisan hard ciders and meads to be sold in farmers markets. Funds will be used to finish the building, close up the walls and buy cider tanks and equipment.

The Efficient Vegan aims to demystify the plant-based diet and provide recipes and meal ideas that are not only simple to prepare, but cost $3 or less per person. Written by two women behind an expansive organic-vegan menu for a mobile meal delivery service, the book employs a unique coding system for each ingredient, aimed at improving efficiency and eliminating waste. The team is trying to raise $15,000 to publish and distribute the book they say will change people’s perceptions of the vegan lifestyle – a pledge of just $150 earns a vegan cooking lesson and dinner for two!